Obélisque Goscinny

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• Cultural landmark
• Under 1 kmfrom Angouleme center
• 4.5 / 512 reviews
• Angouleme

A tribute to the man who wrote the jokes

René Goscinny died in 1977, yet his words have become part of everyday French. Phrases such as "Ils sont fous ces Romains" (These Romans are crazy), Lucky Luke's feat of drawing faster than his own shadow, or the fear that the sky is about to fall on your head all trace back to his pen. The obelisk was commissioned to mark the fortieth anniversary of his death and to celebrate a scriptwriter whose craft helped win recognition for comics as a true art form.

Goscinny rarely worked alone, and the monument remembers his partners in crime. The names of the great artists he collaborated with — Albert Uderzo, Morris, Jean Tabary, Sempé and Gotlib — are engraved into the base, set in stone for posterity. It is a quiet nod to the creative duos that built some of Europe's most beloved comic universes.

Reading the stone: 82 carved quotations

The delight of the obelisk is in the details. Its four faces, base included, carry 82 cult lines drawn from Astérix, Lucky Luke, Iznogoud, Les Dingodossiers and Le Petit Nicolas. Wander slowly around the column and treat it as a quiz: can you spot which character said which line, and from which album? Familiar formulae sit alongside rarer gems, so the monument rewards both die-hard fans and families with children who know the Gauls' adventures from film and page.

The work itself was made by Gaspard Lepelerie, a stone carver from the Luberon, from pale Bourgogne Massangis limestone. Standing roughly 5.20 metres tall and weighing close to 7.9 tonnes, it was raised into place overnight and unveiled at a ceremony in the presence of the writer's daughter, Anne Goscinny, to whom the city's mayor handed the keys to Angoulême and named her an honorary citizen.

An open-air gateway to comics country

Placed on the station forecourt, the obelisk acts as a front door to Angoulême's comics culture, welcoming festival-goers and travellers straight off the train. It now shares the square with a companion piece, the Menhir Uderzo, raised about six years later to honour the artist behind Astérix. Together the two monuments form a complementary tribute to the legendary writer-and-illustrator duo, turning the parvis into a small, witty open-air landmark for bande dessinée lovers.

Visiting the Goscinny Obelisk

As an outdoor public sculpture on the Place de la Gare, the obelisk is free to visit at any time, day or night, all year round. Its station-square setting makes it easy to combine with the arrival or departure of a train, or with a walk into old Angoulême. During the annual Festival International de la Bande Dessinée, when the city fills with comics fans, the monument is at its most lively and a natural first stop.↗